Winding machine



A. F. PYM

WINDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1929 Jan: 22, 1935.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 liuif.

@ 522, 193.5. 'A. F.-P YM 1,989,062

' 'WINDINGMACHI'NE I Filed Dec. 30; 1929. 2 Sheet-Sheet 2.

Patented Jan. 22, 1935- UNITED STATES j 1,989,062 PATENTQFFICE wmnmGmomma Arthur F. Pym, Swampscott, Mass, assignor, by

direct and mesne assignments, to Sibley-Pym Corporation, Lynn, Mass acorporation of Massachusetts Application December 30, 1929, Serial No.417,805

15 Claims. (01. 24

shape, balance and resiliency. The proper con-,

trol of the tension is essential in starting the winding operation uponthe small core center or kemel of rubber which is commonly employed atthe center of the core. usually yielding in consistency and if thetension is permitted to increase above a predetermined degree, thekernel is elongated or made egg-shaped and the resulting core isnon-symmetrical and poorly balanced. During the winding operation it isimportant to maintain the tension uniform, because uneven tension in thedifferent winding zones tends to distort the core and also because thevolume of thread supplied to the core varies in accordance with thetension to which it is subjected,

that is to say, under high tension the cross sectional area of thethread is substantially reduced and more turns of thread must besupplied in producing acore of predetermined diameter. Finally, it isimportant to maintain the tension uniform in the outer windings of thecore for the additional reason that otherwise a surface of confused anduneven appearance is produced.

In one aspect my invention'consists in novel mechanism for supplying anelastic thread continuously under a uniform degree of tension to a coreor other body being wound. I am enabled to achieve the desired resultsby advancing the elastic cord to the winding mechanism at apredetermined uniform speed bearing a definite fractional ratio to theperipheral speed of the core being wound. An important feature of myinvention consists in means for unwinding the elastic thread from thesupply reel, constructed and arranged to maintain available a supply ofunwound thread which is relieved substantially of all initial tension.It will be understood that where elastic thread is pulled directly froma supply reel, a variable tension results whichis often veryconsiderable as, for example, when the threadis being unwound fromeither end of the reel where it may become jammed to some extentagainstone head of the reel. In order to eliminate such initial tension,I contemplate the provision of driven means for rotating the supply reelat a uniform rate and for leading the unwound thread away from the reelso that it may be then handled in a uniform untensioned condition.

Another important feature of my invention consists in mechanism forengaging an elastic thread and advancing it or releasing it to the corebeing wound at a rate of linear speed hearing a fractional ratio to thecircumferential or peripheral rate of speed of the core. For example, ifthe feeding mechanism is operated to advance the elastic threadatone-sixth the rate of the circumferential rate of speed of the core,each unit length of the thread is stretched to six times its untensionedlength and is tensioned a definite amount corresponding to suchelongation. As herein shown, the core is rotated by peripheralengagement with a driven roller so that the peripheral speed of the coreis uniform-regardless of its diameter. The elastic thread is advanced tothe winding point by a roller driven in definite speed ratio to thecorerotating roller preferably, and as herein shown, from a commonsource of power.

In another aspect my invention consists in improvements in core windingmechanism of the general type disclosed in the pending application ofCharles R. Sibley, Serial No. 404,299, filed November 21, 1929, nowPatent 1,982,933, issued Dec. 4, 193-1. As in that machine, I propose tosupport and rotate the core by suitable rolls and to provide means forautomatically detecting a'zone. of oversize diameter and keeping thecore spheri-. cal by turning it to shift suh zone out of the windingplane, but whereas the detecting means of that machine comprises asphere mounted for universal movement, I have discovered thatsatisfactoryresults may be attainedby the use of a roller having acurved periphery which makes substantially point contact with the corebeing, wound. tages of simplicityof construction and efilcacy inoperation, and at the same time produces a core possessing the desirablecharacteristics required.

'As herein shown, the turning or twisting of the core to shift itswinding zone is facilitated by mounting one of the core-supporting milsfor free endwise movement in a direction at right angles to the windingplane. The employment of such a freely movable roll in combination witha member of any kindwhich reacts with.

the core to displace the winding zone is behaved to be broadly new andconstitutes feature of the invention.

These and other features of the inventionwill be best undef'stood andappreciated. from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposesof illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which This'construction presents the advani pt .Fig. 1 is a view of the entire machine in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a view mechanism;

in perspective of the winding Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the core inwinding position upon its supporting rolls; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the tension mechanism.

i its lower end in which is iournaled Theroller48isintheformofa-pliedtothecoreinawinding a hub or weight 44 at its upper end, by the vthe roller 48 is maintained at all times in yielding engagement with thecore at the tapered roll 28. As thecore 48 reacts with this oversize Asherein shown, the winding unit, the tension imit and the motor fordriving these units are bolted to a base .plate 10. The windingmechanism is mounted an upright portion 14 having a boss 15 projectingfrom its rear face, in which is mounted a horizontally disposedstationary shaft 18. At' its outer end the shaft 16 carries a hand wheel17 and a driving to be engaged through the medium of a clutch 20. Theclutch is operated by a vertically'disposed shifting lever 21, having alatch piece 23 pivotally connected to its upper end by which the lever21 may be latched in clutch-engaa'ing'position when it is desired tooperate the winding mechanism continuously. The clutch may be of anycommercial type and it is unnecessary, therefore, to describe I itsdetails of construction.

Thecore to be wound is supported by a pair spaced rolls arranged torotate about parallel rizontalaxes. One roll 28 is secured to a shaft 26Journaled in the frame 14 and carrying at its rear end a pinion 24arranged to mesh with the driven pinion 22. The roll 28 tapers inwardlyfrom each end, as shown best in Fig. 3, tending to center the coresymmetrically. The other roll '32 isiournaled upon a stationary shaft 30ex tending through the frame and secured by a nut 36. At its outer endthe shaft 30 is shouldered and provided with a nut 34, between which anda boss 88 on the frame is a space longer than the roll.32, so that thelatter may rotate freely and also-move endwise within the limitsdetermined by the boss and the nut 34. The shaft 26 and the roll 28 aredriven in a counter clockwise direction,

as seen in Fig. 2, so that the core supported between the two rolls isrotated in a clockwise direction and the idle roll 32 is turned by itscontact with the core in the, opposite direction.

In the upper part oi'the frame 141s formed boss having a vertical bore,in which is mounted a rod 42 having a forked member 46 at a roller 48.disk having a transversely curved or convex rim disposed parallel to theshafts 28 and 30 and symmetrically above them.v The rod 42 is freelymovable in its bearings and provided with a action of which top of thewindbe wound is supzone which corresponds to, the central vertical planeof the roller 48 and to the minimum diameter of the is wound, therefore,build up and form a the core. The roller zone in the core and causes thelatter to turn and displace the windingzone, and this tuming' of thecore out of the plane of the winding zone is facilitated by the endwisemovement permitted in the idle roll 32.

Elastic thread is supplied to the winding mechanism from a reel 62iournale'd upon a transverse shaft 64 mounted between vertical bra .ketarms 60, one of which is shown in Fig. 1. Beyond the supply reel 62 is apair of'standards 82 in which is'iournaled a transverse shaft 80. Aninwardly extending arm 74 is molmted to swing freely upon the shaft 80and carrriesa drum which is arranged to run upon the body of the elasticthread wound upon the supply reel. The drum 70 is fast to a shaft 72carried by the ing zone. The elastic thread to the elastic thread tendsto zone of oversize diameter in in a frame having a base 12 and p 'Fig.1, is mounted a motor having a shaft 52 with pulley l8 and these arearranged. to or disengaged from a pinion 22- and itsaxisis' a peripheralmovement of driving pulley 84.

At the left end of the base plate, as seen in driving pulleys thereon.One of these pulleys is belted through a cross belt 50 to the drivingpulley 18'of the winding mechanism, and the other pulley is connectedthrough an open belt 54 to the pulley 84 on the rear end of the shaft80. The shaft carries a small intermediate pulley which, in turn, isconnected through a cross belt '78 to. the pulley 76 on the drum shaft72.

It will be notedthat both the roll 28, which determines the peripheralspeed of the core, and the drum 70 are driven from the shaft 52. Theirrelative speed is, therefore, fixed in definite ratio. Constructed inthe proportions shown, the peripheral speed of the drum 70 issubstantially one-sixth of the peripheral speed of the roll 28. The drum70 .rests upon the body of elastic thread wound upon the reel 62 and byits rotation in a clockwise direction rotates the reel in anti-clockwisedirection so as to unwind the clasticthread from the bottom thereof. Thethread leaving the reel 82 is conducted away from it toward the right asshown in Fig. 1, and about an idle pulley 68- iournaled in the upper endof the bracket 66 secured to the base plate 10. From the pulley 88 thethread to the left and makes a complete turn about the drum 70 fromwhich it passes to a guide roll 92 mounted in a bracket 90 adjacenttothe winding mechanism. After passing beneath the guide roll 92, thethread passes over the contracted waist of the roll 28 and about thecore being wound. 7

The purpose of leading the thread away from the supply roll 62 istoclear the thread from the rotating reel, prevent back winding andmaintain a supply of untensioned thread; In about the drum 70, a feedingrelation is established which is practically positive as the frictionalengagement of the elastic thread about the entire circumference of the.drum prevents the possibility of slippage. The drum 70, therefore, byits rotation advances the thread to the core at a definite rate oflinear speed which, as

already stated, may be one-sixth of the periph-- eral speed of rotationof the core. It will thus be seen that the elastic thread is firstunwound from the supply reel and relieved of initial tension and thenadvanced to the winding point at a predetermined rate. If the ratio isone to six, each unit length of threadwill be stretched to, six timesits untensioned length in passing from the feed drum 70 to the corebeing wound and wfll be, accordingly, tensioned to a definite degreewhich, for convenience, may be expressed in terms of elongation. Thismethod of handling the thread is represented diagrammatically in Fig.4,where A" of the drum 70 is shown as corresponding to a peripheralmovement of .3" in the feed roll 28.

It will be apparent that the condition above outlined exists throughoutthe winding of the core and during its increase in diameter, and thatthe peripheral speed of the core is uniform regardless of its diameterand equal to the peripheral speed of the tapered feed roll 28.Similarly, the peripheral speed of the supply reel 62 isuniformregardless of its diameter and equal to the peripheral speed ofthe drum '70 which, by its weight, follows the body of thread upon thereel as the latter decreases in diameter. The const'ructionabovedisclosed, therefore,

insuresa supply of elastic thread to the core being wound under apredetermined uniform degree of ten sionthroughout the windingoperation. It will be apparent, moreover, that the degree of tension maybe readily varied by changing the ratio of pulley diameters andelongation imposed upon the thread, corresponding to any desired degreeof tension, or the same result may be secured by be noted that-beforethe machine of my invention was available, manufacturers have had noassurance in advance as to the grade ofthe cores being produced but havebeen obliged to subject them individually to a resiliency test. A corewound with high tension travels farthest in re-' sponse to severe blowand balls with'such'cores are desired by players of professional skill,whereas a ball having a core wound with a medium tension is much moresatisfactory for the average player. By suitably controlling the rate atwhich the thread is released tothe core in the machine of my invention,it is possible to produce cores wound with a high tension, a mediumtension or a low tension, as desiredby the requirements of the trade.

.In securing the improved resultsrendered pos-- sible for the first timeby the use of my invention, a very important factor is the eliminationof an uncertain and variable initial tension in the elastic thread. Itwill be understood that when a reel is rotated merely by the pull of thethread, the

tension required varies, not only on account of local irregularities,such as the thread beirk jammed against one end of the reel, but that asthe size of the reel is reduced the moment arm ofthe effective pull isdecreased so that an in creased tension is required to turn the reel,and alsoas the size of the reel decreases, it must be rotated atincreasingly higher speed to supply the. same length of thread; All ofthese uncertain factors are eliminated in accordance with theconstruction of my invention by the provi- 'sion of the drum 10.whichacts to turn the reel at a uniform rate regardless of its size andof the position of the thread thereon. The thread fed from the reel 62is removed therefrom and led through a predetermined path, wherein itsinitial tension may be controlled or reduced to a negligible quantity sothat when it is again engaged by the feed drum "10 it arrives in auniform condition in regard to its tension, The amoimt of windingtension is'thereupon determined by the relative speed of the drum '10and the core rotating roller 28. The guide roll 92 is mounted to rotatefreely in anti-friction bearings and, consequently, has no appreciableeffect upon the .tension of the thread passing beneath it. While I haveshown the thread as making a complete turn about the feed drum 70, itwill beunderstood that any arrangement which enables this roll orequivalent mechanism to control the rate of feed of the thread would bewithin the scope of the invention. v

Having thus described ,gny invention, what I claim as new anddesire-tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States of America is:

v. 3' l.mawindingmachinc,meansforrotating a core at a predetermined rateof peripheral speed, and means for feeding an elastic threadtheretoatarateoflinearspeedbearingapre determined fractional ratio tothe periphe rate ofspeedofthecore. g

- 2. In awinding'machine, means for rotating a core at a predetermined.rate of'peripheral speed, and means located at-'a distance 7 from thecorefor feeding an elastic thread thereto and having elements acting, toadvance the thread at a predetermined and slower rate oflinear'speedthantheperipheralspeedofthe 3. In a winding machine, meansfor rotating a core at a uniform peripheral speed, and feed ingmechanism foran elastic. thread, including a driven roll for advancing dto the core at a fl redrate of linear speed which is slower thantheperipheral speed of the core.

In a. winding machine, means for rotating ,a core ,ata uniformperipheral speed regardless of its diameter, a supply jreel of-elasticthread, and driven feeding mechanism for; delivering thread from saidreel without substantial initial tension and-for thereafter releasingit'to the core at a fixed rate of linear speed which is slower than theperipheral of the core. j

5. In a winding machin driven means for rotating a core at auniformperlpheral speed, a supply of elastic thread, and a driven rollerfor turning'tbereel to unwind the thread upon it and iorpositivelyadvancing the unwound threerl to the core at a predeterminedfractionalrateof the speed at which the core is wound.

8. In a winding machine, mechanism for roing thread from the reel torelieve the thread of initial tension inchrding a feedroller for en-,gaging the unwound thread andadvancing it uniformly ata fractional rateof the at,

which the core is woundthereby a predetermined tension in the thread.

'7. In a winding machine, mechanism for rotating a core for winding thesame at a uniform peripheral rate of speed, a' driven feed roller act'-ing to receivejelastic withputsubstan initial tension and beingidrlven trelease it to the core at a fractional rate of the speed at which thecoreisbeingwound.'

8. In a winding machine, a roller arranged. to support and rotate a coreat a substantially miform peripheral rate of a feed roller arranged toreceive elastic thread, a driven supply at a substantially uniformrate," the unwound.

thread thereafter making a complete turn about said driven roller andbeing released thereby to the core at a different rate-from that atwhich the core is rotated.

10. In a winding machine, a roller acting to rotate a core atpredetermined rate of peripheral.

speed, a supply reel 01' elastic thread, a movable arm adiacent thereto,a driven roller car- 'tating a core at a uniform peripheral speed. asupply reei of elastic thread, means for-unwind machine, for ro vriedbythearmandarrangedtorunuponthe bodyotthethreadinthereeltounwindthesome, means for guiding the unwound threadawayiromthereelandthenbacktoandaboutsaid driven roller, and means fordriving said rollers at different speeds to advance thread to the coreunder a predetermined degree of tension.

11. In a winding machine, a core rotating roller, means for driving thesame at uniform speed, and mechanism for advancing an elastic threadthereto including a feed roller and means for driving it at a peripheralspeed bearing a predetermined fractional .ratio to the peripheral speedof said core-rotating roller.

12. A winding machine comprising means for supporting and rotating ,aspherical core about a predetermined axis to receive an elastic threadand at vthe same time leaving the core free to 1 be anguiarly displaced,means for delivering thread in a definite winding zone, and a roll witha convex rim, Journaied to rotate about an axis extending at all timesat right angles to the winding zone, contacting with the core in thewinding zone and tending automatically by reacting with the wound threadto displace the core as the diameter of the winding zone innosaoea 13. Awinding machine comprising means for rotating a spherical core about anaxis at right angles to its winding plane to receive an elastic thread,and a roller with a transversely curved rim contacting with the core,the roller being conflnedtorotatewithitsriminsaidplaneand reacting withthe most recently delivered turns oi'threadtodisplacethecoretoon'esideorother from the point of contact.

14; In a winding machine, means for rotating a core at a uniform rate ofperipheral speed throughout the winding operation and about apredetermined axis to wind an-elastic thread thereomand means actingindependently oi the 25 ARTHUR F. m. 5

